Russia urges Syria to surrender chemical weapons

Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Security Council after the Kremlin seized on a remark by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry that Syria could avoid punitive airstrikes by putting its chemical weapons arsenal under international control. Lavrov persuaded the visiting Syrian foreign minister to accept the plan, at least temporarily sparing at President Bashar Assad's government the threatened U.S. attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Security Council after the Kremlin seized on a remark by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry that Syria could avoid punitive airstrikes by putting its chemical weapons arsenal under international control. Lavrov persuaded the visiting Syrian foreign minister to accept the plan, at least temporarily sparing at President Bashar Assad's government the threatened U.S. attack. (Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Security Council after the Kremlin seized on a remark by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry that Syria could avoid punitive airstrikes by putting its chemical weapons arsenal under international control. Lavrov persuaded the visiting Syrian foreign minister to accept the plan, at least temporarily sparing at President Bashar Assad's government the threatened U.S. attack.